Wire-stretching means.



T. L. HARGISQ WIRE STRETCHING MEANS.

AR. 31. I916.

' Patented Nov. 7', 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

g-axw' I T. L. HARGIS. WIRE STRETCHING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTA. 1914. RENEWED MAR. 31. ms.

1 03,617. Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

wumtoz I WIRE-STRETCI-IING MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. '17, 1916.

Application filed September 4, 1914, Serial No. 860,222. Renewed March 31, 1916. Serial No. 88,170.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS L. HARGIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVoodburn, in the county of Warren and State of Kentucky, have invented new and useful Improvements in Wire-Stretching Means, of which the following is a speci fication. r I

The present invention relates to improvements in wire stretching means, and the object of the invention is to simplify and improve the existing art by producing a stretcher which shall be of an economic construction, shall employ few parts, may be easily actuated and which will be reliable and sure in operation.

With the above and other objects in View, the improvement resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and falling within the scope of the appended claim.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the device in operative position, Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same, Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line'3-3 of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the sleeve handle, and Fig. 5 is a similar view of the portion or member carrying the 3 pawls. Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view approximately in line with the plane of the dotted line 66 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the numeral 1 designates the 1 improved stretcher in its entirety. The stretcher includes a carriage or sleeve 2, the same being provided with a longitudinally extending passageway 3, for the reception of a rack bar 4. The rack bar has one of its ends provided with a flexible member, preferably in the nature of a chain 0 which encircles a post P or other suitable support or at- I taching object. The sleeve 2 is provided adjacent one of its ends with a substantially rectangular notch N which is adapted to receive the clamping bars B that are secured to the ends of a woven wire fence F.

The bar 4 has its longitudinal edges provided with ratchet teeth,v the same having forwarding inclined faces .5 and straight shoulders .6. The shoulders 6 upon one of the edges of the bar are arranged centrally of the inclined faces of the teeth upon the opposite edge of the bar. The sleeve 2 is provided with a bifurcated portion 8 and has itslongitudinal edges formed with angularly disposed depressed portions 9 and 10 respectively, the said portions forming guideways for laterally extending knobs 11 and 12 respectively provided upon dogs 13 and ,14 which have their working faces arranged within the bifurcated end of the sleeve and which co-act with the teeth of the rack bar 4. Pivota-lly secured, as at 15, between the sides of the bifurcated portion of the sleeve and at the end of said sleeve is an operating lever 16,.the said lever having pivotally secured thereto the aforementioned dogs 13 and 14, and preferably the ends of said dogs are arranged within slots or depressions 17 and 18 providedby the said handle 16. The handle is further provided with an opening 19 through which passes the rack bar 4.

The numeral 20 designates a round split spring member which has its opposite ends offset, and the said offset ends are received within openings in the dogs 13 and 14. The

spring member 20 exerts an inward tension, that is, the ends of the same exert a tension toward each other, so that the dogs 13 and 14 will have their working faces forced toward each other or against the opposite longitudinal edges of the rack bar 4.

The operation of the device may be brieflydescribed as follows: The wire is secured between the clamps B and the rack bar is secured by the chain C to the post P.

The lever'16 is swung upon its pivot by an oscillatory movement causing one of the dogs to first engage with one of the teeth upon the rack bar and the second dog to engage between two of the teeth upon the opposite side of the rack bar, thus causing the bar to move through the sleeve and draw the clamps B and consequently the woven fence F toward the post P. When the wire is drawn sufiiciently taut the same is secured to a post 1? in the ordinary manner. Should a slack be desired in the wire, the knob of one of the pawls or dogs may be grasped to swing the said dog out of contact with the rack bar with which it engages, and as the said teeth are arranged in staggered relation, or as previously described, the shoulders of one of the teeth are arranged centrally between the shoulders of the second tooth or the tooth upon the opposite edge of the bar will be moved rearwardly by the strain or tension of the wire fence F a distance equally one-half of the length of one of the teeth of the rack bar, and this operation is repeated by alternately moving the dogs out of engagement with the rack bar until the desired slack is obtained.

From the above description, taken in connection with. the accompanying drawings, the simplicity of the device as well as the advantages thereof will, it is thought, be perfectly apparent to those skilled in the art to which such invention appertains without further detailed description.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

The herein described construction of wire stretchers including a substantially rectangular carriage having 'a' passage through one of its ends and being bifurcated at its opposite end, a rack bar passing through the bifurcated portion and through the passage of the carriage, the teeth of the bar having forwardly inclined faces and straight shoulders, and the shoulders upon one side disposed centrally between the shoulders upon the opposite side of the said of the carriage having oppositely inclined edges, a lever pivotally secured to the bifurcated end of the carriage, said lever having an opening through which the rack bar passes, dogs pivotally secured to the lever and disposed to the portions thereof opposite the longitudinal edges of the'carriage, said dogs having lateral'knobs which normally rest against the opposite inclined faces of one of the sides of the carriage, and a round split spring having lateral ends engaging with the dogs between their pivots and knobs and forcing the working faces of the dogs into contact with the toothed edges of the rack bar.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS LAURENCE HARGIS. Witnesses V. Kinny, JAMES M. PIPPIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents Y Washington,D G. 

